


Burning House

by teenageunknownkitty



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: F/F, our fave homeworld gems have a cameo in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-12 01:24:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7078735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenageunknownkitty/pseuds/teenageunknownkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you really miss the people who usually comfort you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ring Around the Gemstone

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in April on my Quotev (teenagekat).  
> Y/N is your name, H/C is your hair color, E/C is your eye color, and F/C is your favorite color.  
> Disclaimer: I only own the story and its plotline.

You couldn't believe it. You had lost it. You had lost the ring.

It had been a gift. And now you... You'd lost it. It was an accident. It honestly was. You had even looked everywhere for it. But... It was quite possibly gone. Forever.

At first you had played it off as something that you had forgotten to wear that morning. You quickly stopped though. You always wore it. Heck, your girlfriend would have pointed it out to you that you weren't wearing the ring.

However, right now, you were currently face-first in your pillow, trying to block out the world and to get your tears to stop. It was honestly strange. Crying over a ring? Of course it had a lot of sentimental value, of course, but... To still be pondering on it? Honestly, you wished you could just move on.

Yet you couldn't, and it was slowly killing you.

"(Y/N)? I let myself in! Hope that's okay!" The shout of a feminine voice brought you out of your moment of self-despair. You could wallow in self-pity some more after Amethyst had left.

You quickly dried your tears with the sleeve of your (f/c) (short/long)-sleeved shirt and called back out to Amethyst, "It's fine!" Hopefully she wouldn't be able to tell you've been crying for the past fifteen minutes.

You stood up and walked over to a mirror, quickly making sure you looked okay. Amethyst had said it didn't matter what you looked like, but you still felt like you had to look somewhat presentable. Also, you wanted to make sure you didn't look like you've been crying. Your eyes were a little red and puffy but you could probably play it off with allergies. Taking a deep breath, you exited your room and walked into the main room, where your short, purple girlfriend sat on a couch.

"So what provoked the sudden visit?" you ask, and then quickly add, "not that I'm complaining."

"You hadn't come by the Temple today. I just wanted to say hi," Amethyst said with a simple shrug. You rolled your eyes.

"It's on the counter," you said, crossing your arms. You watched as Amethyst leaped from her current seat on your couch and headed over to the next room to grab the covered bowl of assorted goods you had. "Anything interesting happen? Sorry I wasn't able to drop by. I had..." You paused, hesitating as you struggled to think of the right way to phrase it. "Things to take care of, and something came up." That was just sugar-coating it. Today had been insane. There had been so many things to be done, and on top of that... You lost the ring.

"Nope, not yet," the Gem called back, reentering the room. She held the bowl in her hands and offered it to you, to which you declined. Something must have snagged Amethyst's eye, because within seconds you noticed her looking at your empty hand where the ring should have been. "Yo, where's your ring? I thought you like, never took that off."

You instantly stiffened, eyes widening a tad. You clenched the hand that should have held the ring and you simply shook your head, trying to keep yourself from crying for the umpteenth time. "O-oh, that? Hah, yeah... Uhm... I-It's in my room," you lied, rubbing the back of your head and messing up your (h/c) hair.

Amethyst eyed you and you shook your head, squeezing your eyes shut to try and block the tears. Instead, the dam just broke and you began crying again. "I... I misplaced it," you choke out, sitting down on the floor. "I was an idiot... I set it down... And then I..." You shook your head, pressing your hands to your eyes. "I'm such an idiot."

"Hey now, we all make mistakes..." Amethyst said, trying to console with you. It wasn't working. A few moments later, you felt an arm wrap around your shoulders and you fell into her embrace. "But... I'm sorry about the ring. Wasn't it your-"

"Yeah..." you cut off, sniffing. You look up at Amethyst and give a weak but genuine smile. "Thanks."

"For what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. You weakly laughed, but your next sentence came out stronger than your prior words had.

"For being here. I owe you," you said, wiping the tears away with your sleeve. "Now... C'mon," you add, standing to your full height. You offer a hand out to Amethyst and she takes the offer, pulling herself up with some of your help. "Let's watch a movie."

x-x-x

When you had received the news, you almost didn't want to believe it. Of course, you knew that Amethyst was reckless. But she was also careful. Well, careful enough not to get herself poofed.

But, apparently, you had thought wrong. No matter how many times you tried to deny it. Her purple gemstone was sitting on your bed, wrapped in a (f/c) blanket. You turned your gaze outside and stared at the rain that pounded on your windows. It was loud, and it made you a bit uncomfortable. Standing up off the couch, you began to walk over to the window. Instead, you ended up tripping over your feet. You threw your hands out to catch your fall, and you only ended up burning your hands in the process. You rested your head on the ground and then just laughed. You laughed until you cried. You cried because of how your week had turned out. You cried because Amethyst was still in her gem form and who knew when you'd get to see your girlfriend again? Certainly not you, that's for sure! After a solid minute of tearful laughter, you stood up and brushed your tears away. You made it over to your window and closed the blinds. You wanted to go to your room, but then you'd see Amethyst's purple quartz gem wrapped in a blanket, motionless. You had lost count of the hours that it had been since Pearl had told you about Amethyst.

_"I'm sorry, (Y/N), but Amethyst's... Well..." Pearl looked a bit uncomfortable at the question you had posed._

_"Pearl? Why can't I talk to Amethyst?" you asked, raising an eyebrow. You crossed your arms, appearing as stubborn as ever. You needed to know why you couldn't go in the Temple and talk to Amethyst. A small puddle of doubt settled in the back of your mind. What if Amethyst had set Pearl up to this? Probably not. Amethyst wouldn't do that, and you trusted her._

_Pearl's nervous silence had begun to both bother and annoy you. "Pearl? Answer my question. Why can't I talk to my girlfriend?" you asked once more, your voice stern._

_"Oh, I hate how stubborn you are," Pearl mumbled angrily, the uneasy look never leaving her eyes. "Amethyst's... Regenerating."_

_You frowned, furrowing your eyebrows together. "I'm sorry?"_

_"(Y/N), look. When a Gem's been badly injured, they retreat to their gems so that they can heal themselves. Amethyst was... She was badly injured during our last mission. She's retreated to her gem."_

Your world had shattered after Pearl had told you that. Afterwards, Steven had somehow managed to convince Pearl to let you have Amethyst's gem, so that you could watch over her until she regenerated. It had taken a lot of convincing as well, because the Gems knew that you could be rather... Well, clumsy and easily lose something. Like the ring.

You finally ended up going back to your room. You would have to face it soon enough. You didn't know how long it'd take for Amethyst to come back, and you certainly were not going to sleep on the couch for a long period of time. It wasn't that the couch was uncomfortable. You just preferred your bed.

You opened the door and stared at the foot of your bed, looking at the gemstone with an empty stare. You missed Amethyst. You changed your clothes into something more suitable for sleep and you collapsed onto your bed. Grabbing your pillow, you maneuvered yourself so that you were facing Amethyst's gem. Your arms were tucked underneath the pillow and your chin rested on top of said pillow. Your (e/c) gaze had been captured by the purple object that was still swaddled in the blanket. You felt your eyes begin to grow heavy and soon enough, you fell asleep. But your peaceful slumber didn't last long. Your sleep was restless, and your dreams consisted of all types of memories with Amethyst. Ones where you two were just hanging out by the beach. Ones where you were talking with Steven, and altered memories. The altered memories were like nightmares... They had twisted your memories around, shaping them into a nightmarish reality. And what made it worse? You couldn't wake up.

x-x-x

A scream woke you up, and to your surprise it was you. Heavy footsteps could be heard outside your door and you heard it slam open. "I heard screaming!"

Your eyes widened and you turned your head around to find the person who had spoken. There she was, in all her glory...

"Amethyst!" you cried out, launching yourself out of bed. Well, alright. In a more realistic style, you had fallen out of bed. But you had quickly jumped to your feet and soon had embraced Amethyst in a warm and tight hug. "You're back!"

"Well, yeah," Amethyst said, returning the hug. "I'm not gonna leave my favorite person hangin'," she replied. You smiled warmly and then frowned, pulling yourself out of the warm and tight embrace, placing your hands on her shoulders. "What's the-"

"Don't ever do that again." Your sternness caught both of you off guard. "Don't ever poof again you big dork."

Amethyst stares at you for a moment and then smiles. The both of you elapsed into laughter and you grin, holding onto Amethyst. "I'm so glad you're back."

x-x-x

The next day, you heard a knock at your door. You opened it to find Amethyst standing in front of it, a simple smile on her face. "You know you can just let yourself in, right? You have a key."

Amethyst just contained her grin and held something out to you. Your eyes widened as you stare at the ring that you had lost days prior.

"I found it."

 


	2. Dreams of Fire and Headaches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CRAP I POSTED THE CHAPTERS OUT OF ORDER  
> oh well. this and the next two chapters come before Ring Around the Gemstone.

_The flames were everywhere. Climbing up the walls, flickering in and out of your vision. The reds and oranges and yellows danced across your vision, making you dizzy. It was becoming a chore to keep your eyes open, and you were coughing. You weren't able to breathe. You felt yourself going numb, and that's when you looked at your feet. Flames were crawling up your legs. You were stuck to the ground, unable to move from fear. You had stopped coughing, your lungs haven adjusted to the poisonous air around you. That, or you had stopped breathing. In fact, you were pretty sure it was the latter. You could hear something, but what was it?_

You were awoken to the sound of some sort of screaming, and with horror you discovered it was _you_ that had been screaming. Your breathing was heavy and labored- how long had you been screaming in your sleep? Had you stopped breathing? -and you had sweat pooling off your face. The next few things you noticed were unusual. There was no sound coming out of your bedroom window (you should have been able to hear the birds), and there was a strange pain in the back of your head. It felt like something was stabbing the back of your mind, and it was _painful_. You flopped back down onto your bed, your head hitting your pillow. Groaning, you closed your eyes in pain and sighed. Forcing yourself to sit up, you buried your face in your hands, wishing your headache would disappear.

Sighing in defeat, you pulled your head out of your hands and stood up, heading to the bathroom. You entered the room, surprised you hadn't stumbled over anything due to your rush to get to the smaller room. You opened the medicine cabinet above the toilet and rummaged around, finally finding the bottle that you were looking for. You filled up the (f/c) cup on your sink with water and placed it back on the sink. You opened the bottle, trying to ignore the pain in your head for just a minute. You finally pulled out two ibuprofen pills and placed them in your mouth. You drank the water, swallowing the refreshing liquid down with the two pills. Dumping out the excess water you sighed and rubbed your eyes. Hopefully the headache would dull soon.

Yawning, you walked back to your room and sat down on your bed, staring out the window. You probably would have to start planning your day soon, you realized. Finally, you decided you'd start your day with a shower and then plan it from there.

x-x-x

You fixed your shirt as you stared at yourself in the slightly foggy mirror, pondering over the plans you had made for the day while in the shower. Sadly, your headache hadn't helped you concentrate very well: It had never left. You ran a hand through your damp (h/c) hair and huffed, exiting the bathroom. Amethyst was supposed to be coming over later today, so you had that to look forward to. But that was going to be in an hour, so you had to find something to do in the meantime. So, in an effort to pass the time, you walked into the living room and turned the TV on, selecting a cartoon channel that was airing an okay show.

An hour later, you were still watching TV with an empty food bowl placed on the coffee table in front of you. Your headache had dulled to only a small pain in the back of your mind. You were extremely involved with the show you were watching now (the channel you were watching was finally showing a show you liked!), so you didn't hear the door opening in the distance. You only noticed someone else was in the house when something touched your arm, causing you to scream and jump up, flailing your arms about wildly.

"(Y/n), chill, it's just me!" Amethyst exclaimed, dodging your arm as it swung out.

You stared at Amethyst and sighed, glaring at her. "Next time, don't do that," you snapped, clenching your fists.

"Aww, did I scare the 'big-bad (y/n)'?" she joked, sitting down onto the couch next to you. You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you sat back down. "Fine, I won't do it again. Well, for now," your purple girlfriend said. You leaned back into the couch and, noticing Amethyst prop her feet up on the coffee table, crossed your arms.

"Amethyst." She turned towards you and you motioned with one of your arms towards the table where her legs were. "Please remove your feet off the table."

x-x-x

 _"The only way I'm leaving is dead. That's the state of my, state of my, state of my head."_ The music blared out from your laptop's speakers and you hummed along to the song, sketching out a minor detail on the object you were drawing. Amethyst had left your house several hours ago, and the sun had set long ago. The clock on your laptop read _10:30pm_ and you were showing signs of fatigues, but you kept playing them off. You were afraid of falling asleep once more, in case the nightmares from the night prior came back. Which was rather ironic, seeing as you had lit the fire place.

The fire in the fireplace cackled against the burning wood, and perhaps the only thing keeping you from putting it out was that the fire was in a mostly-enclosed glass gate-like thing. Or, so you kept telling yourself. You just hoped it would stay inside.

Earlier, you had talked to your girlfriend about the sketch you had been drawing, asking her to come check it out whenever she had the time. You had Steven to thank for that. He was the one who had let Amethyst borrow his phone so you could talk to her. You were just grateful that they hadn't been on a mission. If so, that would have been _extremely_ awkward.

You felt yourself drifting off and you shook your head, turning the volume on your laptop up a bit. The battery icon at the bottom right hand of your laptop showed that it needed to be charged soon, and you sighed, standing to your feet. You walked over and grabbed your laptop charger, plugging the charger into the outlet near the fireplace. The thought didn't even cross your mind at how close it was. You were just too tired. Too tired to be thinking straight. Too tired to realize that the charger was _too close to the fire_. Too tired to realize that you could begin to smell smoke.

Instead, you fell face-first onto the couch and passed out from exhaustion.

x-x-x

You don't remember much.

You remember the sound of a door slamming open and the sound of rushing feet. You remember coughing and feeling light-headed, like something was keeping you from breathing properly.

You just remembered warm arms holding you tight, and something wet on your face.

You were too tired to do anything or register anything.

You just knew that warm arms held you close to their chest, and you lost consciousnesses.


	3. Falling to Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **reader has a small anxiety attack near the end**

When you had woken up, you were met with the sound of ringing ears and a throat that felt like the desert. You were also aware of the freezing cold water that was soaking into your skin.

"-at really necessary?" you heard a feminine voice ask in a scoffing tone. You blinked your bleary eyes open to be met with a pale ceiling that was definitely not your own, and the sensation of a short and sharp headache. You groaned, your vision blacking out for a moment and you closed your eyes, holding your head as you sat up on a... Couch? Yeah. You placed your hand back down on the soft (but damp) fabric and opened your eyes. They instantly widened as you spotted Amethyst right in your face. Pearl pulled your girlfriend back and Garnet stood off to the side, her arms crossed.

"What happened...?" you asked, looking at the three Gems. You glanced at Amethyst and Pearl, trying to decide which of the two looked most uneasy. "And why am I in the Temple?" You narrowed your eyes at the uneasy silence that had spread among the four of you. "Someone- someone answer me!"

Pearl shot a stern glare as Amethyst and Garnet turned to her. "I- I'm no good with- Amethyst, _you_ tell her!"

Amethyst huffed, crossing her arms. She glanced towards you and then glanced back at the ground. "Your house, it..." You raised an eyebrow, slowly becoming impatient. What had happened to your house? Did it relate to why you were in the Temple? (Also why had someone thought it was necessary to pour cold water on you? Seriously. That was, in no way, necessary.)

"It... burned to the ground last night."

A chill ran through your spine (whether it was from the shocking news, the water that had been poured on you minutes prior, or both, you were unaware) and your eyes widened. "No..." The whisper had passed your lips before you had even realized it. Your home had... Burned down? But- but how?

"I was barely there in time to get you out, (y/n). I-" You cut Amethyst off by standing to your feet, shaking your head in disbelief.

"But- but _how_? I can't remember anything from last night, I..." You sighed, covering your face with your hands. "I need some air," you mumbled, letting your hands fall to your sides as you walked out of the Temple (well, more or less Steven's room). Sighing, you stared out at the beach and then walked down the wooden steps, trying to think. What had you done last night that had caused your house to burn down? You racked your brain, trying to remember.

Eventually, you decided to retrace your steps back to your home. As the house came in to view, your eyes widened. It wasn't completely burned to the ground (to your complete surprise), but you could still see charred areas in your home. Especially near the living room, where you had been the night of the fire. You walked up to the door, recoiling in surprise as you noticed it looked like it had been broken down. _Probably due to Amethyst,_ you thought and stepped around the door. As you entered the house, you started coughing. Once your coughing fit had settled, you wiped away your tears (which did nothing but smear everywhere. Your shirt hadn't completely dried) and decided to take a look around. The room that was the most burned was definitely the living room, and you could hear something inside said room.

Cautiously, you walked into the empty, ash-coated room and stared in horror at the scene. Your laptop was melted, and there was a hole where the screen should have been. Your head turned towards the fire place - or, where it should have been - and you sighed, shaking your head.

"Maybe if I hadn't been so tired..." you murmured to the thin air, coughing as you did so. You sighed and left the room. Walking through the house, you started to examine the damage. Parts of some walls were missing, and most of the rooms had at least a small layer of soot. You soon came to the stairs that led up to your attic, and you wondered if it was safe enough to walk up. Probably not, but hey, it was worth a shot right?

You placed a foot on the charred first step and pressed down, testing the strength of the stair. The ashy wooden stair groaned as you pressed your weight onto it, and it momentarily seemed okay. However, this sense of relief was quickly shattered as the stair broke. You instinctively jumped back and glanced down at the stair, then up at the stairs leading up to the attic. Yeah. You weren't going to be able to get up there.

As you walked back to the living room where this had all started, you stopped in your tracks and took a moment to think. _Why_ , exactly, had you gone back in your home? It had been burned. And- wait- hadn't you heard a noise in the living room? And shouldn't the house be falling to the ground? Sure, you didn't think it was _that_ burnt, but now that you came to think about it...

You were snapped out of your thoughts as you heard a floorboard creak. Your eyes widened in panic and you carefully looked around the house. Hearing another noise, your breathing stopped, caught in your chest. You were frozen to the spot, yet all your instincts were screaming at you to _run_. Hearing the noise one last time pushed you to your limit and you started running.

Yet you didn't get far. As soon as you reached the kicked-down door, you felt someone grab you from behind. Your eyes widened and you gasped. You struggled to turn around but you were unable to. The next thing you knew, something hard hit the back of your head and you blacked out.

x-x-x

When you came back to your senses, you weren't even aware of where you were. You looked out of the green cell you were in and frowned, studying the yellow plasma shield. You attempted to stand to your feet and used the wall for support. Instead, you ending up slipping. You fell onto your knees and you sighed, scowling up at the wall. You eventually managed to stand up on your own and you stared out of the plasma shield, frowning. You, despite your better judgement, reached a tentative hand out to touch the yellow energy. Your fingertips barely brushed the surface and your hand recoiled, eyes wide. The field hadn't hurt you, no, it just... Tickled. You stuck your hand through the shield once more, and a strange sensation tingled up your arm. You pulled your arm back, rubbing it. The tingling had faded and you sighed, rubbing at your eyes. It was now or never.

You backed up away from the shield, prepping yourself to run forward. You went to take the first step and you immediately stopped, hearing voices outside your cell. You stood tall, curiosity gaining the best of you. You took a step closer towards the barrier that blocked off your cell and the outside. At that same moment, a tall, orange humanoid creature stopped in front of your cell. You both made eye contact, and the first thing you noticed was the strange object that held place of the person's nose. Was...

Was it another Gem?

You took a step back and tried to keep your gaze on the orange gem. A second later, you heard the faint sound of singing, and you frowned. The orange gem broke off the miniature staring contest and growled. "Peridot," the tall gem snapped. "Let's go."

A green gem walked into view and soon vanished from your line of sight with the orange gem. You sighed, lolling your head back so you could face the dark, emerald-green ceiling. You trained your ears to focus on the delicate song, and it brought a small smile onto your lips. It was a beautiful song, in all honesty. You huffed a sigh and brought your head back down to face the glowing plasma force-field. Cracking your knuckles, you smirked. It was now or never.

Fighting back the nervousness that gnawed away inside you, you placed a foot behind you and then charged forward, breaking through the force-field with your arms covering your face. You blinked, slowly lowering your arms as you inspected the long hallway you were in. You turned your head both directions and a grin broke across your face. You had to bite back an excited cheer. You were out!

"Now what?" you asked yourself, frowning. Now what were you supposed to do? The weight of the sudden realization struck you and you bit the inside of your lip, beginning to panic.

You didn't know where you were.

You didn't know if the Crystal Gems were here (if so, you hoped Steven was safe back in Beach City).

You didn't know who the other two gems were that were on board this ship with you.

Alright, granted, you knew the name of one of them: Peridot. And you knew you weren't alone with them, since there was at least one other person. If they were even human!

You heard the very faint sound of something getting punched and a quiet yell, and it took a minute for you to realize that you _hadn't imagined it_. You took a deep breath, trying to wash away the fear you had. It was still there, but you could at least try to pretend it wasn't.

You began to mentally prep yourself as you walked down the hallway that the huge orange gem had gone through. You weren't sure what you were expecting yourself to find. It was just... Another hall. Unused cells littered the walls. You slowly walked down the hallway, the undeniable feeling that you were trapped beginning to overcome you. You felt like the walls were closing in around you, when in reality they were just standing where they had been before. You inhaled sharply, falling to the ground on your knees as you held your head.

You were stuck here. _"(Y/n)?"_ You were stuck here forever and you didn't know if you could get you. _"(Y/n)?"_ You were scared, panicking; unsure what to do. _"(Y/n)."_ And now you were going to die hearing voices.

"(Y/n)!" Your head shot up, eyes widening in both shock and relief as you saw, low and behold, Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven.

"Amethyst!" You exclaimed, wrapping your arms around your girlfriend. You looked up and grinned. "Pearl, Steven, you're all okay." Amethyst grabbed your arm and exchanged a knowing glance with Pearl.

"Follow me," Pearl instructed, running down the way they had been. You chased after them, Amethyst clinging onto your arm as you ran, pulling you along.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been about a day and a half since everything had happened. You still weren't entirely sure on what had just happened. But you were alive. That's all you knew.

Sure, you had a fair share of scares with the others (the ship falling onto the Earth, Lapis and Jasper's fusion into Malachite (who was evidently now at the bottom of the ocean)), but you were all alive.

Also, according to Steven, Garnet was a fusion. As you reflected on that topic, it started to make sense. Garnet was the only Crystal Gem with two gems. You didn't understand why you never thought of that before.

Currently, you were sitting on the beach with Amethyst, just watching the ocean for pure amusement.

"Hey, uhm..." you awkwardly started, turning your gaze towards the sand next to you. You felt Amethyst's eyes on the back of your neck and you sighed. "Thanks. Y'know. For..." Sighing, you fidgeted with the ring on your (non-dominant) hand. "For finding me back on the ship. I probably would have died if you hadn't. Or, at least, frozen in a state of anxiety until I could snap myself out it it," you finished, a short, dry laugh coming from you.

Amethyst shrugged in an attempt to brush off the compliment. "It's no problem. We've gotta look out for each other, right?" she asked. You heard movement beside you and you turned your head, noticing Amethyst was standing on her feet. She was holding a hand towards you, and you were staring at her in confusion. She sighed in annoyance, rolling her eyes and she tugged you upwards. You stumbled a bit as you were forced up, but eventually you found the proper footing to keep yourself upright. Amethyst dropped her arm and the two of you grinned at each other before charging into the ocean, laughing.

Maybe everything would be okay now.

Maybe's always such a nice word.


End file.
